Entrepreneurship is understood as the capacity and willingness to develop, organize and manage a business venture along with any of its risks in order to make a profit and the most obvious example of entrepreneurship is the starting of new businesses. In economics, entrepreneurship combined with land, labour, natural resources and capital can produce profit. Entrepreneurial spirit is characterized by innovation and risk-taking, and is an essential part of a nation's ability to succeed in an ever changing and increasingly competitive global marketplace.

There has been a growing interest among Mizo women in the field of business and other economic activities. Guha and Adak in their research state that ‘substantial section of entrepreneurship activity in Mizoram is in the hands of women and the picture is dense in Aizawl’ [1] They also claim that this was not a case of the Mizo alone but trading in other north-eastern states of India are also dominated by women though their strong presence has been a gradual process, beginning with the sharing of workload between male and female members in the family unit. [1] To understand the Mizo case in depth, it would be imperative to look at the various conditions that create an optimal condition nurturing the spirit of entrepreneurship among Mizo women and this introductory study lends a historical perspective among the mazes of conditions that has led to the growing increase of women’s involvement in the world of business and entrepreneurship. According to 2011 census, female literacy rate in Mizoram stands at 89.27 %, which is far above the national average of 65.5 % and Mizoram has the third highest literacy rate in India with 91.33%. A high literacy rate among Mizo women has direct effects on their participation in economic activities among many other things. Apart from this, other social conditions contributing and challenging Mizo women to be successful entrepreneurs are also within the purview of this chapter.

The Early Years

Although Mizo history did not begin towards the end of the 19^th century, it was only then that written records of Mizo life began and the colonial period starting   from the close of the 19^th century ushered in modernity among the Mizos in every sphere. Prior to that, oral narrative was the major source of history and this was employed along with material and non- material cultures for writing down the pre- colonial life of the Mizos. Mizo writers like K.Zawla, Rev. Liangkhaia, and Rev. Saiaithanga were some of the first authors of Mizo history in the early and mid-20^th century. Through their writings, we have a glimpse of the way society was organized and the dynamics that sustained social structures and relationships. There are writings from the British Colonial officers like T.H. Lewin, A.G. Mc Call, J. Shakespeare, A.G. Woodthorpe, and Sir. Robert Reid. The Christian missionaries also provide extensive sources through their writings about the Mizo society in the late 19^th century well into the middle of the 20^th century. So, we are presented with local, colonial and missionary perspectives into the understanding of the early Mizo society.

Despite myriads of views, conflicts and contradictions in the way traditional Mizo society is understood, there seems to be a sort of unity when it comes to the way the status and conditions of Mizo women are represented. In traditional Mizo society, women had a low status in every sphere of their existence- from her natal home, in the village social organization, in her daily work place at the jhum, in religious performances, in her sacred and private sphere of marriage and even in the world of the death- it was always lower than her male counterpart or by virtue of him was she recognized and acknowledged. [2] In a highly patriarchal traditional Mizo society, the birth of a male child indicated just more than welcoming a new baby, but a hope for the continuity of lineage and the propagation of family name and a security and protection for the chief and the villagers in times of inter village wars and from wild animals. So, right from birth, boys were put on a pedestal whereas the birth of a girl child did not entail as much as the boys. As children grew up to be adults, the gap between their statuses also grew simultaneously and girls learnt their roles under their mothers and grandmothers while boys were trained at Zawlbuk and this sustained gender roles both in the private and public space. All able- bodied Mizos spent the better part of their lives in agricultural activities in their jhum cultivation where rice was the main crop. It was labour intensive and it fell on both men and women to work together almost as equals. Clearing of the jungle and burning the land and preparation of the soil was considered a man’s job and the rest of the work was shared throughout the year and heavy lifting and those that required physical strength was left to the men too. Household chores were wholly the realm of women and they were expected to do all of it from pounding of rice, collection of firewood and getting water from the village watering hole, cooking, cleaning the house, caring for domestic animals, weaving of blankets and clothes for all her family members and entertaining guests at night. She had very little say in deciding whom to marry and once married, her children belonged to their fathers, and she could be divorced at the whim of her husband. No female child was entitled to inherit her father’s property even in the absence of a male heir. [2] Women and children were excluded from sharing sacrificial meat when performing religious rites and the only way a Mizo woman could enter pialral was through her husband’s performance of thangchhuah feasts. So, in all the institutions within the social structure, her roles and statuses were secondary- from birth till death, even in the afterlife. It was a life carved out by the society and she performed the roles assigned to her and it was guarded by customs and norms. Mizo men too were confined to their traditional roles as the society was always above the individual and it was beyond the individual to question social organizations and structures. So, both Mizo men and women can be seen as individuals whose work, actions, behaviors and taste being controlled by the society. The early Mizo society functioned like what Sir Charles Metcalfe called little republics where every village was more or less sufficient in almost every aspect. From birth to grave, the life of a Mizo revolved around the ancestral village and the forests surrounding the village. 

Changing Landscape

The greatest change in the status and conditions of Mizo women was brought about by the introduction of education under Christian missionaries towards the end of the 19^th century. When schools were first started informally in Mizoram in 1894 under the aegis of the Christian missionaries, it was not confined to the male population alone but to whoever wanted to study. By 1899, there were few girls who joined school along with the boys but their numbers were very few in comparison to their male counterparts and out of 56 students, only six were girls in the mission school in Aizawl [3]. It is not surprising that a patriarchal society had major problems in sending their girls to study alongside the boys. Gradually, but surely, there was a growing interest in education among the Mizo girls where both the Christian missionary schools and Sunday schools played enormous roles in the spread of literacy and paved the way for the development of the desire for higher qualifications for Mizo girls. It was in 1902-03 that temporary girls’ school was set up in and around Aizawl [3] and this was the beginning of formal school for Mizo girls in both the North and the South Lushai Hills under the Presbyterian and Baptist missionaries. The subjects offered to girls’ education in the early years of the introduction of education is extremely important as it paved the way for the future of the Mizo women in various ways. And one can even go to the extent of arguing that it still has strong implications on how womanhood is seen, how female gender roles are crystallized and even to their economic activities in modern times. In order to attract girls to school and for their parents to allow them to attend schools, the main focus of girls’ education was usefulness rather than qualifications. They followed regular primary courses to enable them to sit for primary school examination and among this, scripture and singing were included. [3] But a stronger focus was put on craft and housekeeping and girls were taught needlework like plain sewing both by hands and machine, cutting out and making up of garments, shirts, pants, coats, frocks etc and also thread work and crochet. Lessons on hygiene included care of infants and young children and cleanliness. In the girls’ school curriculum was also included practical work like cooking using locally available foodstuffs and the best way of using them. Special cooking for the sick and weakly was also included [3]. It was not only the missionaries - the official educationist- who focused on providing such education for the girls. The government’s desire too was to provide female education that would ‘enable them to perform their domestic duties more efficiently, with greater comfort to their families and to themselves, and at the same time to give them a broader outlook in life so that they might lead happier and more useful lives’ [3]. From the passage, we can see how female education was not aimed at providing mobility and not a means to attain a career but a way of consolidating their traditional gender roles. The superintendent of the Lushai Hills District, Mr. Hezlett also argued that greatest care should be taken to keep female education as practical as possible, to make the three Rs take a secondary place for the fear of ‘diminishing their chances of getting married’ and the only professions in which girls’ should be encouraged were the medical field (nursing) and teaching [3].  In conjunction to female educational ideals for the Mizos, the government bought a loom for the Mizo girls and taught them its use [3]. 

While all these happened in the North Lushai Hills, the South Lushai Hills too had similar story. It seemed more intensive in their focus to practical learning with more challenges from the society. There were instances where some young men questioned the purpose of education and wondered who would do household work if education were given to the girls [3].  This put more pressure on the missionaries to provide education that was acceptable to the Mizo society.  Girls’ education therefore under the Baptist mission focused on subjects like weaving, spinning, sewing, knitting, embroidery, childcare, animal rearing, gardening, health and hygiene and this was done to make sure that they returned to their villages to serve their families and the community better. And this resulted in educated girls being preferred over the non-educated ones for matrimonial purpose too [3]. So, the curriculum of the girls’ school had direct implications on the way womanhood was envisaged and had direct bearings on the way their future was imagined both by themselves and by the society. Beyond training to be good housewives, their horizons began to open towards becoming teachers and nurses. The Mizos society, the missionaries and the colonial government encouraged this dream. This was just the beginning and from there, new avenues were opened for them in various fields, though the road was long and hard. When Mizoram joined the Indian union upon its attainment of independence in 1947, more avenues gradually opened for educated Mizo women, as clerks in the government establishments and their political participation too grew with the increase in national fervour leading up to rambuai.  So, truly, it was education that opened the doors for women and enabled them to have a peek beyond the hills and give them a chance to leave their marks in the world. The outlook of the Mizo society was shifted by education and it became more tolerant towards female participation in various fields, beyond traditional gender roles and these roles also collapsed at various instances too. 

Linking The Past with the Present

It wouldn’t be preposterous to argue that school curriculum with heavy leaning on work education has a direct effect on the way economic activities or careers are chosen by students. In the case of the Mizo girls, school curriculum during the periods when education was under the Christian missionaries greatly focused on creativity and handiworks and this has a strong bearing on the way Mizo women’s entrepreneurial spirit is directed. It may sound far fetched to draw a link between the two where there already has been a gap of about half a century since the school curriculum has been under the government, but it is worth seeing the link and the connection is much closer than one may anticipate. For about 50 years, girls’ school curriculum focused on nurturing creativity and developing their traditional skills. Weaving was one of the most important skills of a Mizo woman and she alone clothed her family. When education was introduced, this was the skill that was picked out by both the government and educational authorities and they saw the potential for its economic importance. So, weaving has always been seen in traditional Mizo society as synonymous to womanhood and weaving entailed many other things like stitching and the processes of preparation from seeds, caring for the plants, harvesting, cleaning, spinning, dyeing, weaving and finally stitching. This skill has been passed on to Mizo women for centuries and it is very much part of a Mizo woman’s life. In The Lushai Kuki Clan, Shakespeare mentions that the garments worn by the Mizos are of cotton, grown locally and manufactured by the women of the household [4] and it was done mainly in the winter while then men while the men prepare to pass a day of complete enjoyment. [4] The women also made clay pots, moulding them by hand. [4] When schools introduced them as part of the curriculum, they worked on improving and developing a more efficient way of doing it by teaching them how to cut materials for clothes and hand stitching and machine stitching. But when curriculum gradually changed after India’s independence, we saw a declining interest in teaching traditional skills to girls though work education continued as one of the subjects. With the amalgamation of Serkawn Girls’ School with the Boys’ School, the main centre of weaving and stitching along with other domestic work in the southern part of Mizoram came to an end. But in Aizawl, P.C. Girls’ school continued with the tradition. The formalisation of traditional skill and knowledge in school [5] open enormous opportunity for entrepreneurial activities. School curriculum under the Christian missionaries banked on traditional skills and roles and that truly can be critiqued as limiting the abilities and opportunities for women. But the other side of the story is that it has encouraged and built women’s confidence in this art and today it has become one of the most important area in which women entrepreneurs have set their foot on and has contributed richly to the economy of the Mizos in modern times. In today’s world where qualifications become a necessity for securing jobs, the art of traditional weaving and stitching provides an alternative to Mizo women to earn their livelihoods and provide opportunities for other women too. In an interview with Lalremfeli who has worked extensively in the fashion industry as a designer in Mumbai claims studying in P.C. Girls’ School has helped her in choosing designing as a career and while pursuing the course, it was easier for her to grasp many techniques and understand the nuances because of the many years of her experience as a school girl in an institution that has enormous focus on work education, especially traditional weaving and stitching.

If you take a walk along the streets of Aizawl today, every locality has a tailor or a designer boutique where local tailors stitch clothes. These businesses are dominated by women entrpreneurs. Among the younger generations, fashion designing has become a trend and more and more boutiques are set up every year. These young designers and tailors do not limit themselves to stitching of clothes as required by their clients, but they also produce ready to wear formal and semi- formal garments. Some of them concentrate on bridal wear and with the increase in the price of production they come up with the innovative idea of bridal wear for rent. This included not just costume for the bride but all the parties involved thereby allowing cutting down the expenditure of wedding. Men’s bridal wear are also now available for rent though much of men’s clothing are still sourced from outside the state and not many tailors and designers look into the production of the same. The ever resourceful and enterprising young Mizo women did not lose the opportunity to delve into the production of sportswear when football and basketball league began in Mizoram. There is hardly any show or event where their marks are not visible. From T.V. channels, musical and sports events, religious events, government and school functions are all within their radar and a source of income for them. Majority of their market is confined to local consumers and producing mainly sunday formal church outfits for women. There are some design houses like Heritage Mizoram who market their products to boutiques in Goa, Berlin, Paris and New Delhi. Heritage Mizoram produces exclusively designed products for both fashion and home in tandem with global trends by using traditional methods handed down from generations in a riot of traditional patterns and motifs. Vakiria is another design house that begins to do mass production of readymade garments with a wider market reach, catering to the needs Mizos as far as the United States and Australia through their website. The presence of luxury brand like Hannah Khiangte is felt throughout the northeast and the rest of India, especially in bridal wear. A brand name Tluangpuii Hmar in an interview also says that social media like instagram has become a great platform to expand the market and especially during festive seasons like Christmas, majority of her production goes to places like Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Tripura and Manipur. So far, access to wider market is still problematic for most Mizo designers and according to a Chennai based Mizo designer, Irene Chhangte the reason for this is Mizoram’s geographical location being too far removed from the larger Indian market, expensive transport cost and also the problem in sourcing raw material from other parts of India.

Guha and Adak in their study found that ownership of entrepreneurship has gender biasness. Female participation is very high in entrepreneurship business in Aizawl but most of license on entrepreneurship in Aizawl being offered to the male however the business being undertaken by the female as observed from micro data. [1] This seems to be because of the Mizo society still highly patriarchal where it is considered proper for the family head or men to head businesses too even just for namesake. For some people, the reason is also to keep the business within the family and that it may not go to another family when women get married and leave their natal home. 

One of the biggest challenges for the women entrepreneurs is financing problem. There is a consensus in the government’s lack of financial support that could enable them to increase their production and venture out into new areas. There is not an organised association or union to take up their cause and whatever markets are accessed have been done purely through their grit, hard work and creativity. 

Some successful women entrepreneurs owning fashion boutiques claim that the support from their families is one of the main reasons for their success and their startup money came from their own savings. They also feel that women have the capability to nurture and connect emotionally with others which is crucial in fashion industry and they also feel that women understand fashion better than men in Mizoram. They also feel that Mizo society does not clip their wings and that they do not feel at a disadvantage because of their gender.

The Mizo women’s confidence and ability to take risk stems from various reasons and this paper wants to highlight the socio-historical aspect. The Mizo girls grow up under the watchful eyes of her family, the church and the society. This is best captured by a poem written by Dawngi Chawngthu [6] in Vannei Zo Lanu as follows:

• Vannei Zo Lanu/ Lucky Zo Lanu
• Mami, ti suh (Don’t my child)
• Mami, ha suh (Don’t wear that)
• A mawi lo (Doesn’t look good)
• Mami, melh suh (Don’t look my child)
• Mami, sawi suh (Don’t say that)
• A tha lo (It’s not right)
• I ti leh ta maw ... (So, you go again)
• ​​A dik alawm (It’s alright)
• Zilh zel rawh (Carry on)
• Zilh hauhna duhawm an ni e ... (Sweet words of advice)
• Hmangaihna aw ka (Loving words of advice)
• Tunge mamawh lo leh (who doesn’t need them)
• Thatpui lo awm ngai (who doesn’t benefit from them)
• Fel sa renga piang tu kan awm si lo (For none is born faultless)
• ​​Kan zilh cham chi e (we shower her with advice)
  ​​Mami hi (Our zo lanu)
• Inchhungah leh (At home)
• khawtlangah nen (And in the society)
• Radio-ah te (Over radio)
• T.V-ah pawh (And television)
• Weekly-ah lam in (Why even on weeklies)
• ​​Hmeichhe tha leh fel awm dan (On how a good girl should behave)
• inchei dan mawi (-on what to wear)
• mi biangbiak dan (-and how to talk)
• rawngbawl tui dan (-and how to cook)
• inchhung enkawl dan (-and manage home)
• fa te enkawl dan leh (-and how to raise children)
• mo fel nih dan tur lam in (- and be a model daughter- in –law)
• ​​Zo lanu (Zo lanu)
• I vannei e (You are a lucky one)
• Heng zilhna zawngte hian (All the advice that comes your way)
• Rah tha an la nei mawlh ang (Is sure to build you up)
• Nge ni an nei der tawh le? (Or has it already?)
• I pasal tur an vang ti in (Finding you a suitable groom)
• Khawtlang kan buai ta e law ... (Has become a problem of sorts they say…)
• ​​Hawh u khai (Let’s remember)
• Mami pasal tur (This Zo Lanu)
• Mama hi (needs an ideal mate)
• Thlahthlam tawh lawng (So, let’s not neglect mama anymore)
• Kei zawng ka lainat e ... (I feel for him deeply, I do)
• I’m nobody’s child ang zia zang in (He’s like a “nobody’s child”)
• Zilhtu reng a nei ve lo (Without a soul to prop him up)
• Fel hian luat a nei mawlh lo (Goodness they say has no limits)
• Awm dan mawi te (And he too needs them coming)
• I hrilh ve ang (precious words of wisdom  let’s give)
• Fa tha nih dan leh (A word on being a model son)
• Nupui fanau enkawl dan te pawh (A word on parenting and being family man)
• In leh lo din a (A word on setting up home)
• Chhungkaw kaihhruai dan thlengin mawle (And managing a family too)
• A mamawh hlei hlei Mama hian (Our young mama he needs it more)
• Eng vang nge i ti a maw ... (Why so, do you ask?)
• Hnam humhimtu a ni miau (He is the keeper of the tribe!)
• A kokiah hnam future a in nghat e (On his shoulder rests the future)
• Lanu hian amah chauhin (Our Zo Lanu cannot on her own)
• Hnam a chawimawiin (Bring fame)
• A mualpho zo lo (or shame to her tribe)
• Nakin (The futures)
• Hnam khaipa tur (torchbearer of the tribe)
• Mama hi (Our own Mizo lad)
• I tuai hriam ang khai (We must shape him up)
• Tunah hian (this very now)
• A that loh chuan (For we do not know)
• Zoram tan hmabak a thim (Zoram is headed for dark times)

This poem captures the way in which Mizo society directs the path of girls and women towards its cultural ideals of womanhood. This very form of control has put the women in a position where she learns how to negotiate with situations to her advantage. So, a Mizo woman is trained by the society and family to be an expert in negotiations and taking risks. From a very young age, she learns to do household chores, which by the time she becomes a teenager has given her a strong sense of responsibility and achievement and gives her the courage and confidence to widen her horizon in different spheres. That which is meant to put her in place teaches her to soar above the rest and moulds her to be a successful entrepreneur.

1. Guha, Pradyut and Kalyan Adak. “Gender influence on entrepreneurship: A case study of Aizawl district of Mizoram.” Journal of Entrepreneurship and Management, vol. 3, no. 2, June 2014.

2. Nunthara, C. Mizoram: Society and Polity. Indus Publication, 1996.

3. Hluna, J.V. Education and Missionaries in Mizoram. Spectrum Publications, 1992.

4. Shakespeare, J. The Lushei Kuki Clan. 3rd reprint, Allied Publishers, 2008.

5. Mathlena, Charlee. Interview by Lalhlimpuii Pachuau, June 2020.

6. Chawngthu, Dawngi. Of Butterflies and Lullabies & Unfinished Conversations. Writers’ Workshop, 2015.